Method and apparatus for managing presenting and changing ring-back sounds in subscriber-based ring-back sound service

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for managing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound service. The method includes the first step of storing common ring-back sounds and reporting details of use of the common ring-back sounds, the second step of storing individual ring-back sounds and reporting details of use of the individual ring-back sounds, and the third step of statistically compiling the reported details of use and determining whether to maintain storage of the ring-back sounds based up the statistically complied details. A method and apparatus for presenting and changing ring-back sounds based upon the ring-back sound managing method and apparatus are provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus formanaging ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound serviceand, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing ring-backsounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound service, which improves anexisting ring-back tone service by providing originators with ring-backsounds that terminating subscribers want, instead of a uniform ring-backtone. In addition, the present invention relates to a method andapparatus for presenting and changing ring-back sounds in a ring-backsound service based upon the ring-back sound managing method andapparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, in the case where an originator tries a phone call on aconventional mobile communications network, there is used a method inwhich a terminating mobile switching center provides a uniform ring-backtone to the originator. However, such a conventional ring-back toneservice method is problematic in that the conventional ring-back toneservice method provides a uniform tone, so that an originator cannotdetermine whether an erroneous connection is made or not before theresponse of a terminator and various ring-back sound services consistentwith the characteristics of users cannot be provided. Recently, therewas proposed a method of providing various advertising sounds instead ofthe uniform ring-back tone described above. However, this method is alsoproblematic in that a network provider provides advertising sounds tooriginators without choice and allows the originators to make calls freeof charge for a certain time, an originator cannot determine whether anerroneous connection is made or not before the response of a terminatorand various ring-back sound services consistent with the characteristicsof users cannot be provided.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the applicant of thepresent invention proposed a subscriber-based ring-back sound servicemethod that provides originators with specific ring-back soundsregistered or selected by subscribers, which is described with referenceto FIG. 1 below.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the prior art subscriber-based ring-backsound service method proposed by the applicant of the present invention(see Korean Pat Appl. No. 10-2002-0010006 filed on Feb. 25, 2002).

When an originator calls a subscriber to a service proposed by thepatent application and requests a call connection, a correspondingoriginating Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 31 requests terminatinglocation information from a Home Location Register (HLR) 10 at stepS101.

The HRL 10 requests routing information from a terminating MSC 32 inresponse to the request of step S101 at step S102, and the terminatingMSC 32 provides the routing information (Temporary Local DirectoryNumber (TLDN)) to the HLR 10 in response to the request of step S102 atstep S103.

The HLR 10 transmits the routing information to the originating MSC 31in response to the request of step S101 at step S104. Accordingly, theoriginating MSC 31 requests a trunk (hereinafter referred to as “ISDNUser Part (ISUP)”) call connection from the terminating MSC 32 basedupon the routing information to establish a call path at step 105.

Thereafter, if it is determined that a terminator is a subscriber to theservice of the patent application and the service is activated basedupon service establishment information and information for performingrouting to an Intellectual Peripheral (IP) 50 provided by the HLR 10 andpreviously stored in the terminating MSC 32 at the time of registeringthe location, the terminating MSC 32 requests an ISUP call connectionfrom the IP 50 to establish a trunk call path based upon this routinginformation and, at this time, provides both a terminating phone numberand an originating phone number at step S106. As a result, the callpaths are established among the originating MSC 31, the terminating MSC32 and the IP 50. For reference, the service establishment informationand the routing information are included in a location registrationresponse message downloaded from the HRL 10 to the terminating MSC 32,and are provided to the terminating MSC 32.

The IP 50 inquires a ring-back sound code from the IP server 70 basedupon the provided terminating and originating phone numbers at stepS107, and the IP server 70 searches for the ring-back sound codeallocated in connection with the provided terminating and originatingphone numbers and transmits the searched ring-back sound code to the IP50 in response to the inquiry of step S107 at step S108. The IP 50transmits a ring-back sound corresponding to the received ring-back backsound code, instead of a ring-back tone, to the originator through theestablished call path at step S109.

Finally, when the terminating subscriber answers the phone while thering-back sound is being transmitted to the originator, the terminatingMSC 32 requests the IP 50 to disconnect the ISUP call connection so thatthe IP 50 can disconnect the ISUP call connection at step S110, and, atthe same tune, allows the originator and the terminating subscriber tomake a call through the call path established between the originatingMSC 31 and the terminating MSC 32 at step S111.

Meanwhile, in the above-described conventional subscriber-basedring-back sound service method, as the number of subscribers increases,the IP 50 should store a larger number of ring-back sounds. Thering-back sounds may be classified into two types: common ring-backsounds fixedly stored in the IP 50 and individual ring-back soundsrecorded, edited and uploaded on the Internet by subscribers. As thering-back sound service is continuously provided, the number of commonring-back sounds provided by a Content Provider (CP) increases, and thenumber of individual ring-back sounds increases due to an increasednumber of subscribers, so that the number of ring-back sounds to bestored must explosively increase. Accordingly, there is aninconvenience, in which the capacity of geometrically distributed IPsshould be expanded when the number of ring-back sounds to be storedexceeds the capacity of the IPs, or a problem, in which individualring-back sounds are not sufficiently serviced because the expansion ofcapacity of the IPs does not catch up with the increased number ofring-back sounds.

Further, as described above, in the case where an originator tries aphone call in a conventional mobile communications network, there isused a method in which a terminating MSC provides a uniform ring-backtone to the originator. However, such a conventional ring-back toneservice method is problematic in that the conventional ring-back toneservice method provides a uniform tone, so that an originator cannotdetermine whether an erroneous connection is made or not before theresponse of a terminator and various ring-back sound services consistentwith the characteristics of users cannot be provided.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the presentinvention is to provide a method and apparatus for managing ring-backsounds, which is capable of providing both a common ring-back soundservice and an individual ring-back sound service without hindrance evenif the number of subscribers increases.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofpresenting ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back soundservice, which allows a ring-back sound to be presented to a subscriberin the subscriber-based ring-back sound service, which provides withoriginators with a ring-back sound, registered and selected by aterminating subscriber, instead of an existing ring-back tone, so thatthe originators can determine whether erroneous connections are made ornot and various ring-back sounds consistent with the characteristics ofterminating subscribers can be provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofchanging ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound service,which allows an originating subscriber to select the ring-back sound ofa terminating subscriber, to which the originating subscriber listens,and set the ring-back sound of the terminating subscriber for hissersubstitute ring-back sound in the subscriber-based ring-back soundservice.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention providesa method of managing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service, including the first step of storing common ring-backsounds and reporting details of use of the common ring-back sounds to aring-back sound management server, in each of Intellectual Peripherals(IPs); the second step of storing individual ring-back sounds andreporting details of use of the individual ring-back sounds to thering-back sound management server, in each of large capacity storagedevices connecting and interworking with one or more IPs; and the thirdstep of statistically compiling the reported details of use of thecommon and individual ring-back sounds and determining whether tomaintain storage of the common and individual ring-back sounds based upthe statistically complied details, in the ring-back sound managementserver.

The method further includes the step of requesting the IP or largecapacity storage device to delete a ring-back sound determined at thethird step so that the ring-back sound is deleted, or the step ofrequesting the IP to remove a ring-back sound determined at the thirdstep so that the ring-back sound is removed from the IP to the largecapacity storage device, after the third step.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention providesan apparatus for managing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-basedring-back sound service system, the subscriber-based ring-back soundservice system having ring-back sound provision means for storing avariety of ring-back sounds, connecting with Mobile Switching Centers(MSCs) of a mobile communications network via the gateway and providingthe stored ring-back sounds to the MSCs; ring-back sound provisioncontrol means for communicating with the IP via the Internet andspecifying a kind of a ring-back sound to be provided to the MSCs basedupon a combination of identification of a terminating subscriber that acall connection is requested to reach, identification of an originatorcorresponding to the identification of the terminating subscriber, andinformation on a time band in which the request of the call connectionis made; a Web server for connecting with the ring-back sound provisionmeans or ring-back sound provision control means via the Internet, andadding ring-back sounds to the ring-back sounds stored in the ring-backsound provision means or changing ring-back sound specifying informationof the ring-back sound provision control means; a Home Location Register(HLR) for storing first information about whether to substitute for anexisting ring-back tone and second information for performing routing tothe ring-back sound provision means as profile information of aterminating subscriber; the MSCs for receiving and storing theestablished first and second information while communicating with theHLR at a time of registering a location of the terminating subscriber,receiving a ring-back sound while communicating with the ring-back soundprovision means based upon the first and second information, andproviding the received ring-back sound to the corresponding originator,instead of the existing ring-back sound, including ring-back soundprovision means for storing common ring-back sounds; large capacitystorage devices each interworking with one or more ring-back soundprovision means; and ring-back sound management server for statisticallycompiling the reported details of use of the common and individualring-back sounds, determining whether to maintain storage of the commonand individual ring-back sounds based up the statistically complieddetails, requesting the ring-back sound provision server or largecapacity storage device to delete a determined ring-back sound so thatthe ring-back sound is deleted therefrom, and requesting the IP toremove a determined ring-back sound so that the ring-back sound isremoved from the IP to the large capacity storage device.

In order to accomplish another object, the present invention provides amethod of presenting ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service, the subscriber-based ring-back sound service beingperformed in such a way as to store a plurality of ring-back soundscorresponding to ring-back (sound codes in ring-back sound provisionmeans constructed to be linked to a mobile communications network, andprovide originators with a ring-back sound corresponding to a ring-backsound code selected by a terminating subscriber with respect to each oforiginators, originator groups, originating time bands and default,including the first step of providing ring-back sound code informationof the ring-back sound selected by a presenter and subscriberinformation of a presentee to the ring-back sound provision means; thesecond step of transmitting a message notifying ring-back soundpresentation, including call-back information, to a mobile terminal ofthe presentee in a short message form via a Short Message Service (SMS)server of the mobile communications network based upon the subscriberinformation of the presentee; and the third step of selecting thecondition information while communicating with the ring-back soundpresentation server according to the call-back information, andproviding the selected condition information from the ring-back soundpresentation server to the ring-back sound provision means.

At the first step, the selecting of a ring-back sound is performed basedupon voice communication or data communication, the voice communicationis performed based on an ARS service, and the data communication isperformed based on Web or WAP.

The ring-back sound provision means stores the provided ring-back soundinformation in an inactive storage space of a corresponding subscriber,activates the provided ring-back sound information according to theprovided condition information, and uses the activated ring-back soundinformation as a substitute ring-back sound. In this case, the inactivestorage space stores one or more ring-back sound codes, and causes a newring-back sound to be overwritten on an oldest ring-back sound whenhaving no available space.

In order to accomplish another object, the present invention provides anapparatus for presenting ring-back sounds in a subscriber-basedring-back sound service, the subscriber-based ring-back sound serviceproviding a ring-back sound selected by a terminating subscriber tooriginators, including a ring-back sound provision means constructed inconjunction with a mobile communications network to store a plurality ofring-back sounds corresponding to ring-back sound codes, and provide aring-back sound corresponding to a ring-back sound code selected by apresenter according to condition information regarding originators,originator groups, originating time bands and default, instead of anexisting ring-back tone; a ring-back sound presentation meansinterworking with the ring-back sound provision means via the Internetto provide ring-back sound code information of the ring-back soundselected by the presenter and subscriber information of the presentee,transmit a message notifying ring-back sound presentation, includingcall-back information, to a mobile terminal of the presentee in a shortmessage form via a SMS server based upon the subscriber information ofthe presentee, cause condition information to be selected through themobile terminal of the presentee based upon the call-back information,and provide the selected condition information to the ring-back soundprovision means; and a communication intermediation means forintermediating voice or data communication between the ring-back soundprovision means and a terminal of the presenter.

The communication intermediation means may be formed of one or acombination of an Automatic Response Service (ARS) server forintermediating voice communication between the ring-back sound provisionmeans and a terminal of the presenter, WAP server for intermediatingdata communication between the ring-back sound provision means and theterminal of the presenter based on a wireless Internet, and a Web serverfor intermediating data communication between the ring-back soundprovision means and the terminal of the presenter based on a wiredInternet.

The ring-back sound provision means is provided with an inactive storagespace and an active storage space, stores the provided ring-back soundcode information in the inactive storage space of the presentee, removeand store the provided ring-back sound code information to and in theactive storage space to be activated, and provide a ring-back tonecorresponding to the ring-back sound code information stored in theactive storage space. The ring-back sound provision means is providedwith the inactive storage space constructed to store plural pieces ofring-back sound information, and overwrites new ring-back soundinformation on oldest ring-back sound information when the inactivestorage space has no available space.

In order to accomplish another object, the present invention provides amethod of changing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service, including the fist step of providing first informationabout whether to substitute for an existing ring-back tone and secondinformation for performing routing to an ring-back sound provisionmeans, preset in a Home Location Register (HLR) at a time of registeringa location of a terminating subscriber, from the HLR to a correspondingterminating MSC; the second step of providing a ring-back sound to acorresponding originator or requesting a trunk call connection from thering-back sound provision means in response to the provided first andsecond information when perceiving that an originating MSC requests acall connection to the terminating subscriber, in the terminating MSC;the third step of search for a ring-back sound code preset in connectionwith a phone number of the terminating subscriber after performing thetrunk call connection in response to the request of the trunk callconnection, and providing a ring-back sound corresponding to thesearched ring-back sound code to the originator via the connectedterminating MSC, instead of the ring-back tone, in a ring back soundprovision control means; the fourth step of requesting disconnection ofthe truck call connection from the ring-back sound provision means whenperceiving that the terminating subscriber answers the call in theterminating MSC, and disconnecting the trunk call connection in responseto the request of the trunk call disconnection by the ring-back soundprovision means; the fifth step of creating a message, including aspecial number, a terminating phone number and an originating phonenumber, based upon information of the special number selected by theoriginator while trying a phone call and transmitting this message tothe HLR, in the originating MSC; the sixth step of transmitting amessage requesting change of a ring-back sound code to the ring-backsound provision control means in response to the received message in theHLR; and the seventh step of substituting the ring-back sound codepreset in connection with the terminating phone number for a ring-backsound code preset in connection with the originating phone number inresponse to the message requesting change of a ring-back sound code, inthe ring-back sound provision control server.

Communication between the HLR and the ring-back sound provision controlmeans is performed based upon Internet Protocol, and the message createdin the originating MSC and transmitted to the HLR at the fifth step isformed of a feature request Mobile Application Protocol (Feature RequestMAP).

If the ring-back sound provision control means comprises a plurality ofring-back sound provision control means, the HLR transmits the messagerequesting the change of the ring-back sound code to a first ring-backsound provision control means corresponding to the originating phonenumber at the sixth step, and the first ring-back sound provisioncontrol means inquires a ring-back sound code corresponding to theterminating phone number from a second ring-back sound provision controlmeans corresponding to the terminating phone number and substitutes thering-back sound code corresponding to the terminating phone numberincluded in a response to the request for a ring-back sound codecorresponding to the originating phone number. Communication between thering-back sound provision means and the ring-back sound provisioncontrol means is performed based upon Internet Protocol.

In order to accomplish another object, the present invention provides amethod of changing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service, the subscriber-based ring-back sound service beingperformed by the step of providing first information about whether tosubstitute for an existing ring-back tone and second information forperforming routing to an ring-back sound provision means, preset in aHome Location Register (HLR) at a time of registering a location of aterminating subscriber, from the HLR to a corresponding terminating MSC;the step of providing a ring-back sound to a corresponding originator orrequesting a trunk call connection from the ring-back sound provisionmeans in response to the provided first and second information whenperceiving that an originating MSC requests a call connection to theterminating subscriber, in the terminating MSC; the step of search for aring-back sound code preset in connection with a phone number of theterminating subscriber after performing the trunk call connection inresponse to the request of the trunk call connection, and providing aring-back sound corresponding to the searched ring-back sound code tothe originator via the connected terminating MSC, instead of thering-back tone, in a ring-back sound provision control means; and thestep of requesting disconnection of the trunk call connection from thering-back sound provision means when perceiving that the terminatingsubscriber answers the call in the terminating MSC, and disconnectingthe trunk call connection in response to the request of the trunk calldisconnection by the ring-back sound provision means; including thefirst step of storing information for performing routing to thering-back sound provision control means in connection with a phonenumber of the subscriber, receiving phone number information of a firstsubscriber and phone number information of a second subscriber throughARS communication with the first subscriber, and transmitting a messagerequesting change of a ring-back sound code to a first ring-back soundprovision control means corresponding to a phone number of the firstsubscriber, in an ARS server, and the second step of inquiring aling-back sound code corresponding to the phone number of the secondsubscriber from a second ring-back sound provision control meanscorresponding to the phone number of the second subscriber according toinformation for performing routing to the second ring-back soundprovision control means, and substituting the ring-back sound codecorresponding to the phone number of the second subscriber for aring-back sound code corresponding to the phone number of the firstsubscriber.

A mobile terminal of the first subscriber provides a phone numberthereof and a phone number with which the mobile terminal recently madea call, to the connected ARS server as the phone number information ofthe first subscriber and the phone number information of the secondsubscriber, respectively. Alternatively, the phone number information ofthe first subscriber and the phone number information of the secondsubscriber are input through a mobile terminal of the first subscriberduring the ARS communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a prior art subscriber-based ring-backsound service method;

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of a subscriber-based ring-backsound service system to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a network configuration diagram of an apparatus for managingring-back sounds in the subscriber-based ling-back sound service inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing a method of managing ring-backsounds in the subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a subscriber-based ring-back sound servicemethod to which the ring-back sound managing method has been applied inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of subscribing to a service inthe ring-back sound presenting method of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process of changing a service and addinga service to an existing service in the in ring-back sound presentingmethod of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of canceling subscription in thering-back sound presenting method of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an actual service process that isperformed after the processes of FIGS. 7 and 8 are completed in thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a format of an added service establishmentmessage that is transmitted from a HLR to a terminating MSC in thering-back sound presenting method of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for presentingring-back sounds in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a storage space of an IP server of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method of presenting ring-back soundsin the subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a method of changing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service, in which a ring-backsound, to which an originator listens while trying a phone call, issubstituted for his/her ring-back sound, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the detailed process of step S1217 ofFIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a method of changing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service, in which a ring-backsound, to which an originator listens while trying a phone call, issubstituted for his/her ring-back sound, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S1316 of FIG.17.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS OF PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS OF DRAWINGS

-   10: HLR-   20: No. 7 network-   31, 32: MSC-   40, 90: gateway-   50: IP-   60: Internet-   70: IP server-   80: subscriber DataBase (DB)-   90: gateway-   100: Web server-   311, 312: large capacity storage device-   320: ring-back sound management server-   330: CP-   701: Personal Computer (PC)-   703, 705: mobile terminal-   711: Web server-   713: WAP server-   715: ARS server-   720: ring-back sound presentation server-   730: IP server-   740: SMS server

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus for managing ring-back sounds in accordance witha preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings below.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of a subscriber-based ring-back(sound service system to which the present invention is applied. Asdescribed in this drawing, the subscriber-based ring-back sound servicesystem includes a HLR 10, originating and terminating MSCs (O_MSC/VLRand T_MSC/VLR) 31 and 32 communicating with the HLR 10 via a No. 7network 20 based on Signaling Transfer Protocol (STP), an IP 50connecting with the No. 7 network 20 and communicating with the MSCs 31and 32 via a gateway (CGS) 40, an IP server 70 data-communicating withthe IP 50 via the Internet 60, a subscriber DB 80 connecting with theHLR 10 via the Internet 60, and a Web server 100 connecting with theInternet 60 via a gateway 90 and communicating with the IP 50 and the IPserver 70.

The HLR 10 has its conventional functions as a network component, andadditional functions of establishing and storing fist information aboutwhether to substitute for an existing ring-back tone or not and secondinformation for performing routing to the IP 50 in a subscriber profile.The information is established in the added service information of aterminating subscriber profile.

The MSCs 31 and 32 each have conventional functions as a networkcomponent, and additional functions of receiving and storing theestablished first and second information while communicating with theHLR 10 at the time of registering the location of a terminatingsubscriber, receiving a ring-back sound to be substituted for anexisting ring-back tone while communicating with the IP 50 based uponthe first and second information, and providing the received ring-backsound to the corresponding originator, instead of the existing ring-backsound.

The IP 50 stores a variety of ring-back sounds, connects with the MSCs31 and 32 via the gateway 40 and provides the stored ring-back sounds tothe MSCs 31 and 32.

The IP server 70 communicates with the IP 50 via the Internet 60 andspecifies a ring-back sound to be provided to the MSCs 31 and 32 basedupon a combination of the identification of a terminating subscriber towhich a requested call connection reaches, the identification of anoriginator, and the information of a time band in which the request ofthe call connection is made (with respect to each of originators,originator groups, originator ages, originator genders, originatorvocations, calling time bands and/or the like). For example, if codesare allocated to various ring-back sounds stored in the IP 50, aterminating subscriber selects originators, originator groups, callingtime bands or the like at the time of subscribing to the service orchanging information and specifies ring-back sounds corresponding to theabove-selected items and the information of the specified ring-backsounds is maintained in the form of a table or the like, the IP 50 iscontrolled so that a corresponding ring-back sound can be provided tothe MSC 32 based upon the information of the table.

The Web server 100 connects with the IP 50 or IP server 70 via theInternet 60, and adds ring-back sounds to the ring-back sounds stored inthe IP 50 or changes the ring-back sound specifying information(specified originators, originator groups and calling time bands) of theIP server 70 and the ring-back sound codes corresponding to thering-back sound specifying information. The subscriber can perform thesefunctions through a Web page provided by the Web server 100.

The operation of the service system of FIG. 2 is described below.

When a person requests a specific ring-back sound transmission servicefrom a service provider to which the person belongs, the personregisters with the subscriber DB 80 of the service provider, thesubscriber DB 80 of the service provider registers the service in theHLR 10 that is a network component, the HLR 10 establishes the servicein the subscriber DB thereof, the HLR 10 transmits service establishmentinformation and data for performing routing to the IP 50 to thecurrently serving MSC 32 at the time of registering a location, and theMSC 32 establishes the received service establishment information androuting data in the added service data of the corresponding terminatingsubscriber. Accordingly, when the originator requests a callestablishment from a corresponding terminating subscriber, theterminating MSC 32 detects the establishment of the specific ring-backsound transmitting service, and notifies the terminating subscriber ofthe inflow of an incoming call while performing a call connection to theIP 50 using the routing data. In this case, the IP 50 inquires whichring-back sound the terminating subscriber has specified from the IPserver 70, and the IP server 70 returns a code corresponding to thering-back sound specified by the terminating subscriber to the IP 50.The IP 50 transmits the ring-back sound corresponding to the codeinstead of an existing ring-back tone so that the originator can listento the ring-back sound until the terminating subscriber answers thephone. When the terminating subscriber responds to the incoming call,the terminating MSC 32 disconnects a call path to the IP 50 and connectsthe originator and the terminating subscriber to process the call.

[Method and Apparatus for Managing Ring-back Sounds]

FIG. 3 is a network configuration diagram of an apparatus for managingring-back sounds in the subscriber-based ring-back sound service, whichis described using the same reference numerals used to designate thesame elements in FIG. 2 because the apparatus is constructed based uponthe system of FIG. 2.

As illustrated in that drawing, IPs (IP#n to IP#(n+7)) 50 are connectedto MSCs (MSC#n, MSC#(n+1), MSC#(n+2) and MSC#(n+3)) geographicallydistributed across the country, respectively, large capacity storagedevices 311 and 312 are each connected to a plurality of adjacent IPs(IP#n to IP#(n+7)) 50 to interwork with each other, a ring-back soundmanagement server 320 is connected to the IPs 50 and the large capacitystorage devices 311 and 312 via a Local Area Network (LAN) or theTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-based Internetto communicate with each other, and a CP 330 is connected to thering-back sound management server 320 via the LAN or the TCP/IP-basedInternet to communicate with each other.

Each of the IPs 50 not only has all the functions described inconjunction with FIG. 2 but it also is provided with a disc for storingring-back sounds, and stores, transits and deletes a certain number ofcommon ring-back sounds, that is, common ring-back sounds provided bythe CP 330.

The large capacity storage devices 311 and 312 each interwork with oneor more IPs 50. The large capacity storage devices 311 and 312 aresupplied with individual ring-back sounds, that is, individual ring-backsounds produced by the terminating subscriber via the Web server 100,from the CP 330, store the individual ring-back sounds, and can deletethe individual ring-back sounds. The ring-back sound management server320 statistically compiles the details of use of the common andindividual ring-back sounds reported from the IPs 50 and the largecapacity storage devices 311 and 312, determines whether to maintain thestorage of the common and individual ring-back sounds based up thestatistically complied details, requests the IP 50 or large capacitystorage device 311 or 312 to delete a determined ring-back sound so thatthe ring-back sound is deleted therefrom, and requests the IP 50 toremove a determined ring-back sound therefrom so that the ring-backsound is removed from the IP 50 to the large capacity storage device 311or 312.

Communication between the IP 50 and the large capacity storage devices311 and 312 is preformed through the TCP/IP-based Internet, a LAN, or acombination of these.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method of managing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention, which illustrates themethod of managing common ring-back sounds stored in the IP 50 of FIG.3.

Each of the IPs (IP#n to IP#(n+7)) 50 periodically (daily or weekly)reports the details of use of the common ring-back sounds, including therates of use, to the ring-back sound management server 320 at step S401.The ring-back sound management server 320 statistically compiles thedetails of use of the common ring-back sounds with respect to each ofthe common ring-back sounds by adding the details of use of each of thecommon ring-back sounds based upon the report of step S401 and arrangesthe details of use of the common ling-back sounds in the order ofmagnitude at step S402.

The ring-back sound management server 320 selects ring-back soundshaving the details of use lower than a preset reference value (forexample, ring-back sounds that have not been used for a certain periodof time, or have rates of use lower than a certain value) based upon thestatistically compiled details of use at step S403. Thereafter, thering-back sound management server 320 requests the deletion and removalof ring-back sounds from the respective IPs (IP#n to IP#(n+7)) 50 atstep S404. Whether to delete or remove ring-back sounds is determinedaccording to another preset reference value, or by various methods, suchas a method in which selected ring-back sounds having a rate of use ofzero are deleted and the other selected ring-back sounds are removed.

The respective IPs (IP#n to IP#(n+7)) 50 perform the deletion or removalof the selected ring-back sounds in response to the request of stepS404. When the deletion of the ring-back sounds is requested, the IPs 50delete the ring-back sounds stored therein at step S405. When theremoval of the selected ring-back sounds is requested, the IPs 50 removeand store the selected ring-back sounds to and in corresponding largecapacity storage devices 311 and 312 at steps 406 and 407.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of managing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, which illustrates the method ofmanaging individual ring-back sounds stored in the large capacitystorage devices 311 and 312.

The CP 330 requests the ring-back sound management server 320 to storeindividual ring-back sounds recorded and edited by the terminatingsubscriber on the Internet at step S501, the ring-back sound managementserver 320 requests the large capacity storage devices 311 and 312 tostore these individual ring-back sounds in response to the request ofstep S501 at step S502, and the large capacity storage devices 311 and312 store these individual ring-back sounds in response to the requestof step S502 at step S503.

The large capacity storage devices 311 and 312 periodically (forexample, daily or weekly) reports the details of use of the individualring-back sounds, including the rates of use of the individual ring-backsounds, at step S511, and the ring-back sound management server 320statistically compiles the rates of use of the individual ring-backsounds by adding the rates of use with respect to each of the individualring-back sounds based upon the report of step S511 and arranges theadded rates of use in order of magnitude at step S512.

Thereafter, the ring-back sound management server 320 selects ring-backsounds having the rates of use lower than a preset reference based uponthe statistically compiled rates of use at step S513, requests the largecapacity storage devices 311 and 312 to delete the selected ring-backsounds at step S514, and the large capacity storage devices 311 and 312deletes the selected ring-back sounds stored therein in response to therequest of step S514 at step S515.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a subscriber-based ring-back sound servicemethod to which the ring-back sound managing method has been applied inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

When an originator calls a terminating subscriber and requests a callconnection, a corresponding originating MSC 31 requests terminatinglocation information from the HLR 10 at step S601. The HLR 10 requestsrouting information from the terminating MSC 32 at step S602, and theterminating MSC 32 responds to the request of step S602 by providing therouting information (that is, Temporary Local Directory Number (TLDN))to the HRL 10 at step S603.

The HRL 10 responds to the request of step S601 by transmitting therouting information to the originating MSC 31 at step 604. Thereafter,the originating MSC 31 requests an ISUP call connection from theterminating MSC 32 based upon the routing information to establish acall path at step S605.

Thereafter, if it is determined that a terminator is a subscriber to theservice of the present invention and the service is activated based uponservice establishment information and information for performing routingto an IP 50 provided by the HLR 10 and previously stored in theterminating MSC 32 at the time of registering the location, theterminating MSC 32 requests an ISUP call connection from the IP 50 toestablish a trunk call path and, at this time, provides both aterminating phone number and an originating phone number at step S606.As a result, the call paths are established among the originating MSC31, the terminating MSC 32 and the IP 50. For reference, the serviceestablishment information and the routing information are included in alocation registration response message downloaded from the HRL 10 to theterminating MSC 32, and are provided to the terminating MSC 32.

The IP 50 inquires a ring-back sound code from the IP server 70 basedupon the provided terminating and originating phone numbers at stepS607, and the IP server 70 searches for the ring-back sound codeallocated in connection with the provided terminating and originatingphone numbers and transmits the searched ring-back sound code to the IP50 in response to the inquiry of step S607 at step S608.

The IP 50 transmits a ring-back sound corresponding to the receivedring-back sound code, instead of a ring-back tone, to the originatorthrough the established call path. In this case, the IP 50 determineswhether it has the received ring-back sound code and a correspondingring-back sound at step S609, and transmits the ring-back sound searchedin the connected large capacity storage devices 311 and 312 to theoriginator through the established call path if the correspondingring-back sound does not exist in the IP 50 at step S610, or thering-back sound existing in the IP 50 to the originator through theestablished call path if the corresponding ling-back sound exists in theIP 50 at step S611.

Finally, when the terminating subscriber answers the phone while thering-back sound is being transmitted to the originator, the terminatingMSC 32 requests the IP 50 to disconnect the ISUP call connection so thatthe IP 50 can disconnect the ISUP call connection at step S612, and, atthe same time, allows the originator and the terminating subscriber tomake a call through the call path established between the originatingMSC 31 and the terminating MSC 32 at step S613.

[Method and Apparatus for Presenting Ring-back Sounds]

A method and apparatus for presenting a ring-back sound in thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention is described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings below.

The ring-back sound presenting method of the present invention isdescribed in conjunction with the operation of the system of FIG. 2because the ring-back sound presenting method of the present inventionis applied to the system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of subscribing to a service in amethod of presenting ring-back sounds in the subscriber-based ring-backsound service.

When a request for subscription to the service of the present invention,that is, the subscriber-based ring-back sound service, is made at stepS701, the subscription of the requester (that is, the phone number ofthe requester) to the service is stored in the subscriber DB, andsubscription information (including the phone number) is transmittedfrom the DB 80 to the HLR 10 at step S702, and the subscription of therequester to the service is stored in a corresponding subscriber profileof the HLR 10 at step S703. Additionally, new subscriber information,including the phone number of the new subscriber and the selected kindof a ring-back sound at the time of subscribing to the service, istransmitted from the DB 80 to the IP server 70 at step S704, and the IPserver 70 allocates a code to the phone number of the new subscriberbased upon the new subscriber information at step S705.

Meanwhile, at step S705, if information specifying different ring-backsounds with respect to each of originators, originator groups and timebands is included in the new subscriber information, different codes areallocated to these ring-back sounds.

Thereafter, when a location registration request message is uploadedfrom the terminating MSC 32, the HLR 10 determines whether the locationregistration request message is transmitted from the subscriber to theservice of the present invention (that is, a terminal requesting alocation registration has subscribed to the service of the presentinvention) by checking the subscriber profile at step S707, downloads aconventional location registration response message to the terminatingMSC 32 if the location registration request message is not transmittedfrom the subscriber, and a location registration response message,including service establishment information and routing information (forexample, a number for performing routing to the IP 50 (Routing Digits)),to the terminating MSC 32 so that the terminating MSC 32 can have theinformation at step S708-2.

An example of the method of transmitting the service establishmentinformation is described below. As shown in FIG. 11, the serviceestablishment information is included in the location registrationresponse message in such a way as to be indicated in a the ring-backtone (Specific RingBackTone: SRBT) field in the form of 2-bit data (forexample, ‘10’ indicates the state in which subscription to the serviceis made but the service is inactivated, and ‘11’ indicates the state inwhich subscription to the service is made and the service is activated)using the reserve field of an added service parameter(CallingFeaturesIndicator2) as the SRBT field, and is transmitted fromthe HLR 10 to the terminating MSC 32. For reference, in FIG. 11, a VMSBfield indicates a Voice Mail Service Busy state, a VMSU field indicatesa Voice Mail Service Busy Unconditional state, a

VMSNA field indicates a Voice Mail Service Busy No Answer state, a FMSNAfield indicates a Fax Mail Service No Answer state, a FMSB fieldindicates a Fax Mail Service Busy state, a FMSU field indicates a FaxMail Service Unconditional state, a MC field indicates a Multi-call, aCC field indicates a conference call, and a MUDN field indicates amultiple unit director number, in the form of 2-bit data, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process of changing/adding a service inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with thepresent invention.

When the subscriber having subscribed to the service according to theprocess of FIG. 7 as described above accesses an appointed Web server100 using a PC, the Web server 100 provides a Web page, in which theservice of the present invention is changed and is added, to the screenof the PC.

Accordingly, when the subscriber requests the change of a ring-backsound while selecting one ring-back sound from a list of ring-backsounds stored in the IP 50 after inputting his/her phone number throughthe Web page at step S801, the Web server 100 requests the IP server 70to change an existing ring-back sound at step S802, and the IP server 70cancels the code of the existing ring-back sound connected with thephone number of the subscriber in response to the request, and storesthe code of the selected ring-back sound in connection with the phonenumber of the subscriber so that the selected ring-back sound, insteadof the ring-back tone, can be provided to an originator that called thesubscriber at step S803.

In the meantime, when the subscriber requests the addition of aring-back sound while transmitting a voice guide file, a logo file or acertain music file to the Web server 100 together with his/her phonenumber at step S804, the Web server 100 requests the addition of thering-back sound from the IP 50 at step S805, the IP 50 obtains the addedring-back sound in response to the request at step S806, and the IPserver 70 allocates a code to the added ring-back sound to be connectedwith the phone number of the subscriber at step S807.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of canceling subscription to aservice in the subscriber-based ring-back sound service.

When the subscriber requests the cancellation of subscription to theservice of the present invention, that is, the subscriber-basedring-back sound service, at step S901, the subscriber DB 80 is updatedto cancel the subscription of the subscriber to the service,cancellation information (including the phone number) is transmittedfrom the subscriber DB 80 to the HLR 10 at step S902, and the HLR 10updates a corresponding subscriber profile to cancel the subscription tothe service of the present invention at step S903. Additionally, thecancellation information, including the phone number, is transmittedfrom the DB 80 to the IP server 70 at step S904, and the IP server 70cancels the allocated code based upon the transmitted cancellationinformation at step S905.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an actual service process that isperformed after the processes of FIGS. 7 and 8 are completed in thesubscriber-based ring-back (sound service, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

When an originator calls a terminating subscriber and requests a callconnection, a corresponding originating MSC 31 requests terminatinglocation information from a HLR 10 at step S1001.

The HLR 10 requests routing information from a terminating MSC 32 inresponse to the request at step S1002, and the terminating MSC 32responds to this request by providing routing information (that is,Temporary Local Directory Number (TLDN)) to the HLR 10 at step S1003.

The HLR 10 transmits the routing information to the originating MSC 31in response to the request of step S1001 at step S1004, and theoriginating MSC 31 requests an ISUP call connection from the terminatingMSC 32 based upon the routing information to establish a call path atstep S1005.

Thereafter, the terminating MSC 32 refers to the service establishmentinformation stored therein (the SRBT field of FIG. 11 received andstored at step S708-2 of FIG. 7), recognizes that the terminator is asubscriber to the service of the present invention and the service isactivated if ‘11’ is indicated in the SRBT field, requests an ISUP callconnection from the IP 50 based upon the routing information receivedand stored at the step S708-2 of FIG. 7 to establish a call path and, atthe same time, provides a terminating phone number and an originatingphone number at step S1006. As a result, the call paths are establishedamong the originating MSC 31, the terminating MSC 32 and the IP 50.

The IP 50 requests the code of a ring-back sound from the IP server 70based upon the provided terminating and originating phone numbers atstep S1007, the IP server 70 responds to the request of step S1007 bysearching for the code of the ring-back sound allocated in connectionwith the provided terminating and originating phone numbers andtransmitting the searched code to the IP 50 at step S1008, and the IP 50transmits a ring-back sound corresponding to the searched code to theoriginator through the established call path at step S1009.

When the terminating subscriber answers the phone while the ring-backsound is being transmitted to the originator, the terminating MSC 32requests the IP 50 to disconnect the ISUP call connection so that the IP50 disconnects the ISUP call connection at step S1010, and, at the sametime, allows the originator and the terminating subscriber to make acall through the call path established between the originating MSC 31and the terminating MSC 32 at step S1011.

In the meantime, in the subscriber-based ring-back sound service methodof the present invention, the terminating subscriber accesses the HLR10, and is allowed to change service establishment information indicatedin the SRBT field of the HLR 10. For example, when the terminatingsubscriber pushes a certain appointed key using his/her mobile terminalthe information of the key is transmitted to the HLR 10, and the HLR 102-bit information indicated in the SRBT field can be changed based uponthe transmitted key information. However, since the first of 2 bitsindicates whether subscription to the service of the present inventionis made or not, it is not allowed to be changed. In contrast, since thesecond of the 2 bits indicates whether the service of the presentinvention is activated, it can be allowed to be changed. That is, forthe subscribers, data indicated in the SRBT field can be two kinds, thatis, ‘10’ and ‘11.’ The data ‘10’ indicates that the service of thepresent invention is inactivated, while the data ‘11’ indicates that theservice of the present invention is activated. In this case, the data‘11’ can be changed to ‘10’ and ‘10’ to ‘11’ by pushing the appointedkey, so that he can decide if he/she uses the existing ring-back tone asit is, or the ring-back sound selected by him/her. Accordingly, when‘10’ is indicated in the SRBT field, the terminating MSC 32 allows theexisting ring-back tone to be provided to the originator even though aterminator is a subscriber to the service of the present invention.

A method and apparatus for presenting a ring-back sound based upon thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention is described in detail below.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the apparatus for presenting a ring-backsound in the subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance withthe embodiment of the present invention. As described in this drawing,the ring-back sound presenting apparatus includes a Web server 711 forcommunicating with the PC 701 of a presenter via the wired Internet andallowing the presenter to select a ring-back sound that the presenterwants to present to a presentee, and to appoint the presentee (he shouldbe a subscriber to the service of the present invention), a WAP server713 for communicating with the mobile terminal 703 of the presenter viathe wireless Internet and allowing the presenter to select the ring-backsound and appoint the presentee, an Automatic Response System (ARS)server 715 for voice-communicating with the mobile terminal 703 andallowing the presenter to select the ring-back sound and appoint thepresentee in an ARS manner, a ring-back sound presentation server 720for communicating with the Web server 711, the WAP server 713 and theARS server 715, an IP server 730 for communicating with the ring-backsound presentation server 720 via the Internet, and a Short MessageService (SMS) server 740 for composing a short message from ring-backsound presentation notifying information provided by the ring-back soundpresentation server 720 and transmitting the short message to the mobileterminal 705.

The ring-back sound presentation server 720 functions to download a listof ring-back sounds or the selected ring-back sound to the PC 701 ormobile terminal 703 according to a ring-back sound selection procedureprogramed in the Web server 711, the WAP server 713 and the ARS server715 so that the presenter selects a ring-back sound that he/she wants topresent, to receive information on the code of the ring-back soundselected by the presenter and presentee information (for example, themobile phone number of the presentee) from the servers 711, 713 and 715and recognize them, to transmit the recognized information to the IPserver 730 and the message notifying ling-back sound presentation, whichincludes call back information and is composed in the form of a shortmessage through the SMS server 740, to the mobile terminal 705 of thepresentee based upon the presentee information so that the presentee canselect condition information for specifying ring-back sounds withrespect to each of originators, originator groups, originator ages,originator vocations and/or originating time bands through the mobileterminal 705 assessed according to the call-back information, and totransmit the selected condition information to the IP server 730.Further, the ring-back sound presentation server 720 has the samering-back sounds in connection with the ring-back sound codes as the IP50 of FIG. 2.

The IP server 730 performs the same function as the IP server 70 ofFIG. 1. In particular, as shown in FIG. 13, the IP server 730 has aninactive storage space 731, and an active storage space 732 dividedaccording to originators, originator groups, originator ages, originatorgenders, originator vocations and originating time bands. Codeinformation provided by the ring-back sound presentation server 72 ismaintained in the inactive storage space 731 of a correspondingsubscriber (that is, a presentee) the code information is removed to theactive storage space 732 to be activated according to the conditioninformation, and the ring-back sound of the code stored in the activestorage space 732 is used instead of a ring-back tone. The IP server 730has the inactive storage space 731 capable of storing multiple (forexample, six) pieces of code information. This is to provide for thecase where the mobile terminal of the presentee is at a No PagingResponse (NPR) state or power-off state. Meanwhile, when the inactivestorage space 731 has no available space, ring-back sound codeinformation provided by the ring-back sound presentation server 72 isallowed to be overwritten on the oldest code information.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method of presenting ring-back soundsin the subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Since this method isapplied to the apparatus of FIG. 11, this method is described togetherwith the operation of this apparatus.

A subscriber who wants to present a ring-back sound (presenter) accessesthe Web server 711, WAP server 713 or ARS server 715 using the PC 701 ormobile terminal 703 as his/her terminal at step S1101. Thereafter, theWeb server 711 downloads a Web page to the screen of the PC 701 to allowthe presenter to select a ring-back sound and appoint a presentee, theWAP server 713 downloads WAP information to the screen of the mobileterminal 703 so that the presenter can select a ring-back sound andappoint a presentee, or the ARS server 715 transmits ARS information tothe mobile terminal 703 in ARS voice so that the presenter can select aring-back sound and appoint a presentee at step S1102.

When the presenter selects the ring-back sound and appoints thepresentee while communicating with the server (711, 713 or 715) throughthe terminal (701 or 703), the selected ring-back sound and theappointed presentee are transmitted to and recognized by the ring-backsound presentation server 720 at step S1103. In this step, the ring-backsound presentation server 720 provides a ring-back sound, which thepresenter wants to present, to the mobile terminal 703 in response tothe request of the WAP server 713 or ARS server 715 so that thepresenter listens to the ring-back sound and selects one ring-back soundfor a present ring-back sound. For reference, the information of theappointed presentee is the phone number of the presentee's mobileterminal, and is the same as the subscriber information that istransmitted when the terminating MSC 32 requests the ISUP callconnection from the IP 50 in the subscriber-based ring-back soundservice described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. Since the service ofthis embodiment cannot be provided in the case where the appointedpresentee is not a subscriber to the subscriber-base ring-back soundservice, a response indicating that the service cannot be provided istransmitted at step S1102.

Thereafter, the ring-back sound presentation server 720 transmits thecode information of the ring-back sound and the information of theappointed presentee to the IP server 730 at step S1104, and the IPserver 730 stores the received ring-back sound code information inconnection with the presentee information in the inactive storage space731 of the presentee at step S1105. In this case, if the inactivestorage space 731 has no available space, the ring-back sound code isstored to be overwritten on the oldest ring-back sound code.

In order to transmit contents indicating who (that is, the presenter)presents which ring-back sound (that is, the appointed ring-back sound)to whom (that is, the presentee) to the presentee in the form of a shortmessage, the ring-back sound presentation server 720 transmits a messagerequesting the notification of ring-back sound presentation, includingcall-back information (for example, a call-back umber or call-back URL),the ring-back sound code and the presentee phone number, to the SMSserver 740 at step S1106. The SMS server 740 transmits a messagenotifying the presentee of ring-back sound presentation to the mobileterminal 705 of the presentee in the form of a short message in responseto the message requesting the notification of ring-back soundpresentation at step S1107.

The presentee perceives the ring-back sound presentation by viewing thecontents of the message notifying ring-back sound presentation receivedthrough the mobile terminal 705, and the mobile terminal 705 accessesthe ring-back presentation server 720 based upon the call-backinformation at step S1108. Accordingly, the ring-back sound presentationserver 720 notifies the presentee of the presented ring-back sound (forexample, allows the presentee to listen to the presented ring-backsound), and downloads a condition information list, which is composedaccording to originators, originator groups, originator ages, originatorgenders, originator vocations and originating time bands, to the mobileterminal 705 so that the presentee can select one of them at step S1109.

Thereafter, when the presentee selects condition information from thecondition information list through the mobile terminal 705 at stepS1110, the ring-back sound presentation server 720 perceives theselected condition information and transmits the selected conditioninformation to the IP server 730 together with the presentee informationat step S1111.

Finally, the IP server 730 removes and stores the code information ofthe presented ring-back sound, which has been stored in the inactivestorage space 731 at step S1105, to and in the corresponding part of theactive storage space 731 in accordance with the received conditioninformation and presentee information so that the ring-back sound of thecode is activated to be used in a mobile communications network, insteadof the existing ring-back tone at step S1112.

Meanwhile, the presentee (who is a subscriber to the subscriber-basedring-back sound service) stores the code of the ring-back soundpresented as described above in the inactive storage space 731 of the IPserver 730 (this may be implemented by not selecting the conditioninformation at step S1110, or adding a step of reserving the selectionof the condition information to the process) and, thereafter, activatesthe ring-back sound code in such away as to access the IP server 70through the Web server 100 constructed on the Internet as described inconjunction with the service changing process of FIG. 8, and remove andstore the ring-back sound code stored in the inactive storage space 731to and in the active storage space 732 of the IP server 730.

[Method of Changing Ring-back Sounds]

A method of changing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings below.

A description of the ring-back sound changing method partially overlapsthe description of the ring-back sound presenting method that wasdescribed above as the embodiment of the present invention. Accordingly,overlapped parts are omitted by indicating the parts in brief below.

That is, the description of the construction and operation of FIGS. 7 to11 is applied to the ring-back sound changing method of this embodiment.Accordingly, in the description of the ring-back sound changing method,the description of the construction and operation of FIGS. 7 to 11 isreferred to below.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a method of changing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, which illustrates a process ofsubstituting a ring-back sound, to which an originator listens to whiletrying a phone call, for his/her ring-back sound.

When an originating subscriber (who is a subscriber to thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service of the present invention) callsa terminating subscriber and requests a call connection, a correspondingoriginating MSC 31 requests terminating location information from theHLR 10 at step S1201.

The HLR 10 requests routing information from the terminating MSC 32 atstep S1202, and the terminating MSC 32 responds to the request of stepS1202 by providing the routing information (that is, Temporary LocalDirectory Number (TLDN)) to the HRL 10 at step S1203.

The HRL 10 responds to the request of step S1201 by transmitting therouting information to the originating MSC 31 at step 1204. Thereafter,the originating MSC 31 requests an ISUP call connection from theterminating MSC 32 based upon the routing information to establish acall path at step S1205.

Thereafter, when the terminating MSC 32 refers to the serviceestablishment information (received and stored in the SRBT field of FIG.11 at step S708-2 of FIG. 7) and ‘11’ is indicated in the SRBT field,the terminating MSC 32 recognizes that a terminator is a subscriber tothe service of the present invention and the service is activated,requests an ISUP call connection from the IP 50 based upon the routinginformation received and stored at step S708-2 of FIG. 7 to establish atrunk call path and, at this time, provides both a terminating phonenumber and an originating phone number at step S1206. As a result, thecall paths are established among the originating MSC 31, the terminatingMSC 32 and the IP 50.

The IP 50 inquires a ring-back sound code from the IP server 70 basedupon the provided terminating and originating phone numbers at stepS1207, and the IP server 70 searches for the ring-back sound codeallocated in connection with the provided terminating and originatingphone numbers and transmits the searched ring-back sound code to the IP50 in response to the inquiry of step S1207 at step S1208. The IP 50transmits a ring-back sound corresponding to the received ring-backsound code, instead of a ring-back tone, to the originator through theestablished call path. When the terminating subscriber answers the phonewhile the ring-back sound is being transmitted to the originator, theterminating MSC 32 requests the IP 50 to disconnect the ISUP callconnection so that the IP 50 can disconnect the ISUP call connection atstep S1210, and, at the same time, allows the originator and theterminating subscriber to make a call through the call path establishedbetween the originating MSC 31 and the terminating MSC 32 at step S1211.

When an originating subscriber selects and pushes a certain number (forexample, *99) preset for the ring-back sound changing service throughhis/her mobile terminal while performing a phone call with a terminatingsubscriber, the information of the selected certain number is recognizedby the originating MSC 31 at step S1212, and the originating MSC 31creates a ring-back sound changing message based upon the information ofthe certain number at step S1213. The ring-back sound changing messageincludes the information of the certain number and originating andterminating phone numbers, and can be constructed, for example, in theform of a feature request Mobile Application Protocol (Feature RequestMAP).

The originating MSC 31 transmits the created ring-back sound changingmessage to the HLR 10, and the HLR 10 is aware that a message indicatesthe change of a ring-back sound by recognizing that the certain numberinformation is included in the created ring-back sound changing message,creates a message requesting the change of a ring-back sound code,including the information of the originating and terminating phonenumbers, and transits the message requesting the change of the ring-backsound code to the IP server 70 corresponding to the originating phonenumber according to Internet Protocol at step S1216.

Finally, the IP server 70 substitutes the ling-back sound code preset inconnection with the terminating number for the ring-back sound code forthe ring-back sound code preset in connection with the originatingnumber at step S1217.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the detailed process of step S1217 ofFIG. 15, which illustrates an example of the detailed process of stepS1217 in the case where a plurality of IP servers 70 are constructed inconnection with the phone numbers of subscribers on the Internet.

When the HLR 10 transmits the created message requesting the change ofthe ring-back sound to an IP server #n 70 a corresponding to theoriginating phone number (that is, the phone number of the originatingsubscriber) at step S1216 of FIG. 16, the IP server #n 70 a inquires aring-back sound code corresponding to the terminating phone number (thatis, the phone number of the terminating subscriber) from an IP server #m70 b corresponding to the terminating phone number at step S1217-1, theIP server #m 70 b transmits the information of the ring-back sound codecorresponding to the terminating phone number to the IP server #n 70 ain response to the inquiry of step S1217-1 at step S1217-2, and the IPserver #n 70 a substitutes the ring-back sound code preset in connectionwith the terminating phone number for the ring-back sound code presentin connection with the originating phone number at step S1217-3. In theabove-described process, communication between the IP server #n 70 a andthe IP server #m 70 b is performed based upon Internet Protocol.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a method of changing the ring-back soundthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention, which illustrates the process ofsubstituting a ring-back sound, to which an originating subscriberlistens, for his/her existing ring-back sound.

When an originating subscriber (who is a subscriber to thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service of the present invention) callsa terminating subscriber and requests a call connection, a correspondingoriginating MSC 31 requests terminating location information from theHLR 10 at step S1301.

The HLR 10 requests routing information from the terminating MSC 32 atstep S1302, and the terminating MSC 32 responds to the request of stepS1202 by providing the routing information (that is, Temporary LocalDirectory Number (TLDN)) to the HRL 10 at step S1303.

The HRL 10 responds to the request of step S1301 by transmitting therouting information to the originating MSC 31 at step 1304. Thereafter,the originating MSC 31 requests an ISUP call connection from theterminating MSC 32 based upon the routing information to establish acall path at step S1305.

Thereafter, when the terminating MSC 32 refers to the serviceestablishment information (received and stored in the SRBT field of FIG.11 at step S708-2 of FIG. 7) and ‘11’ is indicated in the SRBT field,the terminating MSC 32 recognizes that a terminator is a subscriber tothe service of the present invention and the service is activated,requests an ISUP call connection from the IP 50 based upon the routinginformation received and stored at step S708-2 of FIG. 7 to establish atrunk call path and, at this time, provides both a terminating phonenumber and an originating phone number at step S1306. As a result, thecall paths are established among the originating MSC 31, the terminatingMSC 32 and the IP 50.

The IP 50 inquires a ring-back sound code from the IP server 70 basedupon the provided terminating and originating phone numbers at stepS1307, and the IP server 70 searches for the ring-back sound codeallocated in connection with the provided terminating and originatingphone numbers and transmits the searched ring-back sound code to the IP50 in response to the inquiry of step S1307 at step S1308. The IP 50transmits a ring-back sound corresponding to the received ring-backsound code, instead of a ring-back tone, to the originator through theestablished call path at step S1309.

When the terminating subscriber answers the phone while the ring-backsound is being transmitted to the originator, the terminating MSC 32requests the IP 50 to disconnect the ISUP call connection so that the IP50 can disconnect the ISUP call connection at step S1310. At the sametime, the terminating MSC 32 allows the originator and the terminatingsubscriber to make a call through the call path established between theoriginating MSC 31 and the terminal MSC 32 and, thereafter, disconnectsthe call path between the originating MSC 31 and the terminating MSC 32after the completion of the phone call at step S1311.

When the originating mobile terminal of the originating subscriberaccesses a certain ARS server after the phone call between theoriginating subscriber and the terminating subscriber is completed atsteps S1312 and S1313, the ARS server communicates with the originatingmobile terminal according to an appointed ARS communications scenario,and receives a first subscriber phone number, which is the phone numberof the originating subscriber, and a second subscriber phone number,which is the phone number of the terminating subscriber that theoriginating subscriber has called, selected and input by the originatingsubscriber through the originating mobile terminal at step S1314.

Thereafter, the ARS server creates a message requesting the change of aring-back sound code, including the information of the first and secondsubscriber phone numbers, and transmits the message requesting thechange of the ring-back sound code to an IP server 70 corresponding tothe first subscriber phone number according to Internet Protocol at stepS1315. In this case, it is set forth beforehand that the ARS server hasstored information for performing routing to the IP server 70.

Finally, when the IP server 70 substitutes a ring-back sound code presetin connection with the second subscriber phone number for a ring-backsound code preset in connection with the first subscriber phone numberbased upon the received message requesting the change of the ring-backsound code at step S1316 and notifies the ARS server of the change ofthe ring-back sound at step S1317, the ARS server transmits a voicemessage notifying the originating mobile terminal of the change of thering-back sound at step S1318.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of step S1316 of FIG.17 in the case where a plurality of IP servers 70 are constructed inconnection with the phone numbers of subscribers on the Internet.

When the ARS server transmits the created message requesting the changeof the ring-back sound to an IP server #n 70 a corresponding to thefirst subscriber phone number (that is, the phone number of theoriginating subscriber) at step S1315 of FIG. 17, the IP server #n 70 ainquires a ring-back sound code corresponding to the second subscriberphone number (that is, the phone number of the terminating subscriber)from an IP server #n 70 b corresponding to the second subscriber phonenumber at step S1316-1, the IP server #m 70 b transmits the informationof the ring-back sound code corresponding to the second subscriber phonenumber to the IP server #n 70 a in response to the inquiry of stepS1316-1 at step S1316-2, and the IP server #n 70 a substitutes thering-back sound code preset in connection with the second subscriberphone number for the ring-back sound code present in connection with thefirst subscriber phone number at step S1316-3. In the above-describedprocess, communication between the IP server #n 70 a and the IP server#m 70 b is performed based upon Internet Protocol. It is set forthbeforehand that the ARS server information for performing routing to theplurality of IP servers 70 a and 70 b with respect to each of subscriberphone numbers.

Meanwhile, for the modified embodiment of FIG. 17, there may be employeda method in which, in the case where the originating mobile terminalaccesses the ARS server through steps S1312 and 1313, step S1314 isexcluded from this embodiment, the first subscriber phone number is setto the subscriber phone number according to recent call informationstored in the originating mobile terminal and the second subscriber isset to the second subscriber phone number, and the set first and secondphone numbers are automatically uploaded to the connected ARS server.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the present invention provides a method andapparatus for managing ring-back sounds, which are capable ofmaintaining capacity with respect to each of IPs and providing both acommon ring-back sound service and an individual ring-back sound servicewithout hindrance even if the number of subscribers is increased.

Further, in accordance with the method of changing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service, which allows thesubscriber to present the ring-back sound to another subscriber and thepresentee subscriber selectively activates the presented ring-back soundin the subscriber-based ring-back sound service, which provides apersonal public relations means for advertising himself/herself byallowing the terminating subscriber to register and select a ring-backsound that the terminating subscriber wants, which allows theterminating subscriber to notify the originator of his/her identity byallowing the terminating subscriber to store and transmit the ring-backsound, such as voice, and which provides an effective advertising meansby providing the terminating subscriber with an opportunity to advertisehis/her company or organization, thus increasing profits due to thecreation of an added service and improving the quality of service.

Further, in accordance with the method of changing ring-back sounds inthe subscriber-based ring-back sound service, which allows theoriginating subscriber to take the ring-back sound of the terminatingsubscriber and set the ring-back sound of the terminating subscriber fora substitute ring-back sound in the subscriber-based ring-back soundservice, which provides a personal public relations means foradvertising himself/herself by allowing the terminating subscriber toregister and select a ling-back sound that the terminating subscriberwants, which allows the terminating subscriber to notify the originatorof his/her identity by allowing the terminating subscriber to store andtransmit the ring-back sound, such as voice, and which provides aneffective advertising means by providing the terminating subscriber withan opportunity to advertise his/her company or organization.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. A method of managing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based rung-backsound service, comprising: the first step of storing common ring-backsounds and reporting details of use of the common ring-back sounds to aring-back sound management server, in each of Intellectual Peripherals(IPS); the second step of storing individual ring-back sounds andreporting details of use of the individual ring-back sounds to thering-back sound management server, in each of large capacity storagedevices connecting and interworking with one or more IPs; and the thirdstep of statistically compiling the reported details of use of thecommon and individual ring-back sounds and determining whether tomaintain storage of the common and individual ring-back sounds based upthe statistically complied details, in the ring-back sound managementserver.
 2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising thestep of requesting the IP or large capacity storage device to delete aring-back sound determined at the third step so that the ring-back soundis deleted, after the third step.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 1,further comprising the step of requesting the IP to remove a ring-backsound determined at the third step so that the ring-back sound isremoved from the IP to the large capacity storage device, after thethird step.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the IPs eachsearch for a corresponding ring-back sound in the large capacity storagedevices and transmit the searched corresponding ring-back sound if thereis no corresponding ring-back sound to be provided to an originatorduring call establishment between the originator and a terminator.
 5. Anapparatus for managing ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-backsound service system, the subscriber-based ring-back sound servicesystem having ring-back sound provision means for storing a variety ofring-back sounds, connecting with Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) of amobile communications network via a gateway and providing the storedring-back sounds to the MSCs; ring-back sound provision control meansfor communicating with an Intellectual Peripheral (IP) via an Internetconnection and specifying a kind of a ring-back sound to be provided tothe MSCs based upon a combination of identification of a terminatingsubscriber that a call connection is requested to reach, identificationof an originator corresponding to the identification of the terminatingsubscriber, and information on a time band in which the request of thecall connection is made: a Web server for connecting with the ring-backsound provision means or ring-back sound provision control means via theInternet connection, and adding ring-back sounds to the ring-back soundsstored in the ring-back sound provision means or changing ring-backsound specifying information of the ring-back sound provision controlmeans; a Home Location Register (HLR) for storing first informationabout whether to substitute for an existing ring-back tone and secondinformation for performing routing to the ring-back sound provisionmeans as profile information of a terminating subscriber: the MSCs forreceiving and storing the established first and second information whilecommunicating with the HLR at a time of registering a location of theterminating subscriber, receiving a ring-back sound while communicatingwith the ring-back sound provision means based upon the first and secondinformation, and providing the received ring-back sound to thecorresponding originator, instead of the existing ring-back sound, theapparatus comprising: ring-back sound provision means for storing commonring-back sounds; large capacity storage devices each interworking withthe ring-back sound provision means; and a ring-back sound managementserver for statistically compiling the reported details of use of thecommon and individual ring-back sounds, determining whether to maintainstorage of the common and individual ring-back sounds based on thestatistically complied details, requesting the ring-back sound provisionmeans or the large capacity storage devices to delete a determinedring-back sound so that the ring-back sound is deleted therefrom, andrequesting the IP to remove the determined ring back sound so that thering-back sound is removed from the IP to the large capacity storagedevices.
 6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the IP, thelarge capacity storage devices and an IP server communicate with eachother based upon Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP).
 7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the IP, thelarge capacity storage devices and an IP server communicate with eachother based upon a Local Area Network (LAN).
 8. A method of presentingring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound service, thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service being performed in such a wayas to store a plurality of ring-back sounds corresponding to ring-backsound codes in ring-back sound provision means constructed to be linkedto a mobile communications network, and provide originators with aring-back sound corresponding to a ring-back sound code selected by aterminating subscriber with respect to each of originators, originatorgroups, originating time bands and default, comprising: the first stepof selecting a ring-back sound while communicating with a ring-backsound presentation server through one of Web data communication and WAPcommunication server by a presenter and providing ring-back sound codeinformation of the selected ring-back sound and subscriber informationof a presentee to the ring-back sound provision means; the second stepof transmitting a message notifying ring-back sound presentation,including call-back information, to a mobile terminal of the presenteein a short message form via a Short Message Service (SMS) server of themobile communications network based upon the subscriber information ofthe presentee; and the third step of selecting the condition informationwhile communicating with the ring-back sound presentation serveraccording to the call-back information, and providing the selectedcondition information from the ring-back sound presentation server tothe ring-back sound provision means.
 9. The method as set forth in claim8, wherein the ring-back sound provision means stores the providedring-back sound information in an inactive storage space of acorresponding subscriber, activates the provided ring-back soundinformation according to the provided condition information, and usesthe activated ring-back sound information as a substitute ring-backsound.
 10. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the inactivestorage space stores one or more ring-back sound codes, and causes a newring-back sound to be overwritten on an oldest ring-back sound whenhaving no available space.
 11. The method as set forth in claim 9,wherein the inactivated ring-back sound codes stored in the inactivestorage space are accessed and selectively activated through a wired orwireless Internet.
 12. An apparatus for presenting ring-back sounds in asubscriber-based ring-back sound service, the subscriber-based ring-backsound service providing a ring-back sound selected by a terminatingsubscriber to originators, comprising: a ring-back sound provision meansconstructed in conjunction with a mobile communications network to storea plurality of ring-back sounds corresponding to ring-back sound codes,and provide a ring-back sound corresponding to a ring-back sound codeselected by a presenter according to condition information regardingoriginators, originator groups, originating time bands and default,instead of an existing ring-back tone; a ring-back sound presentationmeans interworking with the ring-back sound provision means via anInternet connection to provide ring-back sound code information of thering-back sound selected by the presenter and subscriber information ofthe presentee, transmit a message notifying ring-back soundpresentation, including call-back information, to a mobile terminal ofthe presentee in a short message form via a SMS server based upon thesubscriber information of the presentee, cause condition information tobe selected through the mobile terminal of the presentee based upon thecall-back information, and provide the selected condition information tothe ring-back sound provision means; and a communication intermediationmeans provided with an Automatic Response Service (ARS) server forintermediating voice communication between the ring-back sound provisionmeans and a terminal of the presenter and a Web server and WAP serverfor intermediating data communication between the ring-back soundprovision means and the terminal of the presenter.
 13. The apparatus asset forth in claim 12, wherein the ring-back sound provision means isprovided with an inactive storage space and an active storage spacestores the provided ring-back sound code information in the inactivestorage space of the presentee remove and store the provided ring-backsound code information to and in the active storage space to beactivated, and provide a ring-back tone corresponding to the ring-backsound code information stored in the active storage space.
 14. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the ring-back soundprovision means is provided with the inactive storage space constructedto store plural pieces of ring-back sound information, and overwritesnew ring-back sound information on oldest ring-back sound informationwhen the inactive storage space has no available space.
 15. A method ofchanging ring-back sounds in a subscriber-based ring-back sound service,comprising: the first step of providing first information about whetherto substitute for an existing ring-back tone and second information forperforming routing to an ring-back sound provision means, preset in aHome Location Register (HLR) at a time of registering a location of aterminating subscriber, from the HLR to a corresponding terminating MSC;the second step of providing a ring-back sound to a correspondingoriginator or requesting a trunk call connection from the ring-backsound provision means in response to the provided first and secondinformation when perceiving that an originating MSC requests a callconnection to the terminating subscriber, in the terminating MSC; thethird step of search for a ring-back sound code preset in connectionwith a phone number of the terminating subscriber after performing thetrunk call connection in response to the request of the trunk callconnection, and providing a ring-back sound corresponding to thesearched ring-back sound code to the originator via the connectedterminating MSC, instead of the ring-back tone, in a ring-back soundprovision control means; the fourth step of requesting disconnection ofthe trunk call connection from the ring-back sound provision means whenperceiving that the terminating subscriber answers the call in theterminating MSC, and disconnecting the trunk call connection in responseto the request of the trunk call disconnection by the ring-back soundprovision means; the fifth step of creating a message, including aspecial number, a terminating phone number and an originating phonenumber, based upon information of the special number selected by theoriginator while trying a phone call and transmitting this message tothe HLR, in the originating MSC; the sixth step of transmitting amessage requesting change of a ring-back sound code to the ringbacksound provision control means in response to the received message in theHLR; and the seventh step of substituting the ring-back sound codepreset in connection with the terminating phone number for a ring-backsound code preset in connection with the originating phone number inresponse to the message requesting change of a ring-back sound code, inthe ring-back sound provision control server.
 16. The method as setforth in claim 15, wherein communication between the HLR and thering-back sound provision control means is performed based upon InternetProtocol.
 17. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the messagecreated in the originating MSC and transmitted to the HLR at the fifthstep is formed of a feature request Mobile Application Protocol (FeatureRequest MAP).
 18. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein, if thering-back sound provision control means comprises a plurality ofring-back sound provision control means; the HLR transmits the messagerequesting the change of the ring-back sound code to a first ring-backsound provision control means corresponding to the originating phonenumber at the sixth step, and the first ring-back sound provisioncontrol means inquires a ring-back sound code corresponding to theterminating phone number from a second ring-back sound provision controlmeans corresponding to the terminating phone number and substitutes thering-back sound code corresponding to the terminating phone numberincluded in a response to the request for a ring-back sound codecorresponding to the originating phone number.
 19. The method as setforth in claim 15 or 18, wherein communication between the ringbacksound provision means and the ring-back sound provision control means isperformed based upon Internet Protocol.
 20. A method of changingring-back sounds in a subscriber-based rung-back sound service, thesubscriber-based ring-back sound service being performed by the step ofproviding first information about whether to substitute for an existingring-back tone and second information for performing routing to anring-back sound provision means preset in a Home Location Register (HLR)at a time of registering a location of a terminating subscriber, fromthe HLR to a corresponding terminating MSC; the step of providing aring-back sound to a corresponding originator or requesting a trunk callconnection from the ring-back sound provision means in response to theprovided first and second information when perceiving that anoriginating MSC requests a call connection to the terminatingsubscriber, in the terminating MSC; the step of search for a ring-backsound code preset in connection with a phone number of the terminatingsubscriber after performing the trunk call connection in response to therequest of the trunk call connection, and providing a ring-back soundcorresponding to the searched ring-back sound code to the originator viathe connected terminating MSC, instead of the rung-back tone, in aring-back sound provision control means; and the step of requestingdisconnection of the trunk call connection from the ring-back soundprovision means when perceiving that the terminating subscriber answersthe call in the terminating MSC, and disconnecting the trunk callconnection in response to the request of the trunk call disconnection bythe ring-back sound provision means comprising: the first step ofstoring information for performing routing to the ring-back soundprovision control means in connection with a phone number of thesubscriber, receiving phone number information of a first subscriber andphone number information of a second subscriber through ARScommunication with the first subscriber, and transmitting a messagerequesting change of a ring-back sound code to a first ring-back soundprovision control means corresponding to a phone number of the firstsubscriber, in an ARS server, and the second step of inquiring aring-back sound code corresponding to the phone number of the secondsubscriber from a second ring-back sound provision control meanscorresponding to the phone number of the second subscriber according toinformation for performing routing to the second ring-back soundprovision control means, and substituting the ring-back sound codecorresponding to the phone number of the second subscriber for aring-back sound code corresponding to the phone number of the firstsubscriber.
 21. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein a mobileterminal of the first subscriber provides a phone number thereof and aphone number with which the mobile terminal recently made a call, to theconnected ARS server as the phone number information of the firstsubscriber and the phone number information of the second subscriber,respectively.
 22. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein the phonenumber information of the first subscriber and the phone numberinformation of the second subscriber are input through a mobile terminalof the first subscriber during the ARS communication.